Prisons in India

Prisons in India, and their administration, is a state subject covered by item 4 under the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The management and administration of prisons falls exclusively in the domain of the State governments, and is governed by the Prisons Act, 1900 and the Prison manuals of the respective state governments. Thus, the states have the primary role, responsibility and authority to change the current prison laws, rules and regulations,[1] the Central Government provides assistance to the states to improve security in prisons, for the repair and renovation of old prisons, medical facilities, development of borstal schools, facilities to women offenders, vocational training, modernization of prison industries, training to prison personnel, and for the creation of high security enclosures.

The Supreme Court of India, in its judgements on various aspects of prison administration, has laid down 3 broad principles regarding imprisonment and custody. Firstly, a person in prison does not become a non-person. Secondly, a person in prison is entitled to all human rights within the limitations of imprisonment. Lastly, there is no justification for aggravating the suffering already inherent in the process of incarceration.

Prison establishments in India comprise 8 categories of jails, the most common and standard jail institutions are Central Jails, District Jails and Sub Jails. The other types of jail establishments are Women Jails, Borstal Schools, Open Jails and Special Jails.

The criteria for a jail to be categorised as a Central Jail varies from state to state. However, the common feature observed throughout India is that prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for a long period (more than 2 years) are confined in the Central Jails, which have larger capacity in comparison to other jails, these jails also have rehabilitation facilities.

Borstal Schools are a type of youth detention centre and are used exclusively for the imprisonment of minors or juveniles. The primary objective of Borstal Schools is to ensure care, welfare and rehabilitation of young offenders in an environment suitable for children and keep them away from contaminating atmosphere of the prison, the juveniles in conflict with law detained in Borstal Schools are provided various vocational training and education with the help of trained teachers. The emphasis is given on the education, training and moral influence conducive for their reformation and prevention of crime.

Nine States namely, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have borstal schools in their respective jurisdictions.[3] Tamil Nadu had the highest capacity for keeping 678 inmates.[5] Himachal Pradesh and Kerala are the only states that have the capacity to lodge female inmates in 2 of their Borstal Schools.[5] There are no borstal schools in any of the UTs at the end of 2015.

Open jails are minimum security prisons. Prisoners with good behaviour satisfying certain norms prescribed in the prison rules are admitted in open prisons. Prisoners, here, are engaged in agricultural activities.

Seventeen states have functioning Open Jails in their jurisdiction. Rajasthan reported the highest number of 29 open jails. There are no Open Jails in any of the UTs at the end of 2015.[4]

Special jails are high security facilities that have specialized arrangements for keeping offenders and prisoners who are convicted of terrorism, insurgency and violent crimes. Special jail means any prison provided for the confinement of a particular class or particular classes of prisoners which are broadly as follows:

Prisoners who have committed serious violations of prison discipline.

Prisoners showing tendencies towards violence and aggression.

Difficult discipline cases of habitual offenders.

Difficult discipline cases from a group of professional/organised criminals.

Kerala has the highest number of special jails - 16. Provision for keeping female prisoners in these special jails is available in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Assam, Karnataka and Maharashtra.[4]

Jails that do not fall into the categories discussed above, fall under the category of Other Jails. Three states - Karnataka, Kerala & Maharashtra - have 1 other jail each in their jurisdiction. No other state/UT has an other jail at the end of 2015.[4]

The capacity of inmates (male & female) reported by these three States in such jails was highest in Karnataka (250) followed by Kerala (142), Goa (45) and Maharashtra (28).[6]

All states and UTs in India had a combined sanctioned budget of ₹42,788.12 million (US$660 million) in 2014-15 for prison related expenditure.[7]

Prison expenditure is broadly categorised as Plan Expenditure and Non-Plan Expenditure. Expenditure on specific planned activities under the Five Year Plan is termed as Plan Expenditure. Expenditure made for meeting day-to-day expenses and running establishments like payment of salaries, wages, rent, etc. come under the Non-Plan Expenditure. Non-Plan Expenditure may also include activities for development of existing infrastructure and bringing about improvements in the prisons.

Expenditure on prison inmates is categorised as Food, Clothing, Medical, Vocational/Educational facilities, Welfare and Other expenses. Food expenses account for more than half the total expenditure on prison inmates.

As of 31 December 2014, there are 1387 functioning jails in India having a total capacity to house 356,561 prisoners, as of the same date, there were 418,536 inmates in jails across in India. Males at 400,855 make up 95.8% of prisoners while females at 17,681 represent 4.2%. As of 31 December 2015, there are 1401 functioning establishments/institutions in India housing a total of 419,623 inmates, which includes pre-trial detainees and remand prisoners, the remand prisoners and pre-trial detainees account for 67.2% of the prison population in India. The official capacity of the prison system is 366,781 therefore, the occupancy level is at 114.4%. Of these prisoners, 4.3% are female prisoners and 1.5% are foreign prisoners.[8]

Prison inmates lodged in Indian jails are categorised as Convicts, Under-trials and Detenues. A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison".[9] An under-trial is a person who is currently on trial in a court of law.[10] A detenue is any person held in custody.[11][12]

Prison inmates lodged in Indian jails in relation to non-Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes are classified as civil prisoners, they consist of Convicts and Under-trials.

1.
Constitution of India
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The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It is the longest written constitution of any country in the world. The nation is governed by it, B. R. Ambedkar is regarded as its chief architect. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, with its adoption, the Union of India became the modern and contemporary Republic of India replacing the Government of India Act,1935 as the countrys fundamental governing document. To ensure constitutional autochthony, the framers of the repealed the prior Acts of the British Parliament via Article 395 of the constitution. India celebrates its coming into force on 26 January each year and it declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them. The major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1857 to 1947, when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it repealed the Indian Independence Act. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown and became a democratic republic. The date of 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence of 1930. Articles 5,6,7,8,9,60,324,366,367,379,380,388,391,392,393 and 394 of the Constitution came into force on 26 November 1949 and it is drawn from many sources. Keeping in mind the needs and conditions of India its framers borrowed different features freely from previous legislation viz and it was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by elected members of the provincial assemblies. The 389 member Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete its task of drafting the Constitution for independent India, during which. Of these,114 days were spent on the consideration of the draft Constitution, on 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft Constitution for India, while deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the assembly moved, discussed and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C, there were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi, the Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha Community, prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first temporary 2-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachchidananda Sinha

2.
State governments of India
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State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India, and the head of the council of ministers in a state is chief minister. Power is divided between the government and state governments. While the central government handles military and external affairs etc. the state governments deal with internal security, income for the central government is from customs duty, excise tax, income tax etc. while state government income comes from sales tax, stamp duty. Each state has a legislative assembly, a state legislature that has one house, known as Vidhan Sabha or Legislative assembly, is a Unicameral legislature. A state legislature that has two known as Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad, is a bicameral legislature. The Vidhan Sabha is the lower house. The Vidhan Parishad is the house and corresponds to the Rajya Sabha. The Sarkaria Commission was set up to review the balance of power between states and the union, the central government can dissolve a state government in favour of Presidents rule if necessary. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has higher autonomy compared to states by virtue of Article 370. For every state, there is a legislature, which consists of Governor and one House or, in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, there are two Houses known as legislative council and legislative assembly. In the remaining states, there is only one House known as legislative assembly, Legislative Council of a state comprises not more than one-third of total number of members in legislative assembly of the state and in no case less than 40 members. Remaining members are nominated by Governor from among those who have distinguished themselves in literature, science, art, cooperative movement, Legislative councils are not subject to dissolution but one-third of their members retire every second year. Legislative Assembly of a state consists of not more than 500, term of an assembly is five years unless it is dissolved earlier. Powers and Functions State legislature has powers over subjects enumerated in List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Financial powers of legislature include authorisation of all expenditure, taxation, Legislative assembly alone has power to originate money bills. Legislative council can make recommendations in respect of changes it considers necessary within a period of fourteen days of the receipt of money bills from Assembly. Assembly can accept or reject these recommendations, reservation of Bills The Governor of a state may reserve any Bill for the consideration of the President. No Bills seeking to impose restrictions on inter-state trade can be introduced in a legislature without previous sanction of the President. They also have their committees on estimates and public accounts to ensure that grants sanctioned by legislature are properly utilised, there is overall 4120 Assembly seats in states and Union Territories in India

3.
Government of India
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It is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. There is a bicameral Parliament with the Lok Sabha as a lower house, the judicial branch systematically contains an apex Supreme Court,24 high courts, and several district courts, all inferior to the Supreme Court. Similar to the government, individual state governments each consist of executive, legislative. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common, the full name of the country is the Republic of India. No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name appears on legal banknotes, in treaties. The Union Government, Central Government or Government of India are often used in an official and unofficial capacity to refer to the Government of India, because the seat of government is in New Delhi, New Delhi is commonly used as a metonym for the Central Government. Legislative branch in India is exercised by the Parliament and a legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha. The latter is considered the house or the House of the people. The Parliament does not have control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court of India. However, it does exercise some control over the executive branch, the members of the cabinet, including the prime minister and the Council of Ministers, are either chosen from parliament or elected there to within six months of assuming office. The cabinet as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can only be dissolved when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. Whereas the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house which can never be dissolved though the members of the Rajya Sabha who are elected for a six-year term, the Executive Branch of government is the one that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers. The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India, the President has all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53. The President is to act in accordance with aid and advice tendered by the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers remains in power during the pleasure of the President. However, in practice, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha, if a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha, the President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. His/Her work is to facilitate smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government, the President is de jure the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces

4.
Borstal
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A borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. In India, it is known as a borstal school, borstals were run by HM Prison Service and were intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools. The court sentence was officially called borstal training, borstals were originally for offenders under 21, but in the 1930s the maximum age was increased to 23. The Criminal Justice Act 1982 abolished the system in the UK. In India, borstal schools are used for the imprisonment of minors, as of 31 December 2014, there were 20 functioning borstal schools in India, with a combined total capacity of 2,108 inmates. The Gladstone Committee first proposed the concept of the borstal, wishing to separate youths from older convicts in adult prisons, the system was developed on a national basis and formalised in the Prevention of Crime Act 1908. The regimen in these institutions was designed to be rather than punitive. In the 1930s, the system produced a re-offending rate of around 30%. The Criminal Justice Act 1982 officially abolished the system in the UK. Only male inmates over 18 might be so punished and this power was very rarely used – there were only 7 birching cases in borstals in the 10 years to 1936. This birching power was only in England and Wales. Caning as a more day-to-day punishment was used in the single borstal in Northern Ireland but was not authorised in England, Scotland or Wales, a similar system under the name borstal or borstal school has also been introduced in several other Commonwealth countries. In India,9 States, namely Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu had the highest capacity, at 678 inmates. Himachal Pradesh and Kerala are the states that have the capacity to lodge female inmates in two of their borstal schools. There are no schools in any of the union territories. In Ireland the Criminal Justice Act,1960 removed the term borstal from official use and this was part of a policy to broaden the system from reform and training institutions to a place of detention for youths between 17 and 21 for any sentence which carried a prison term. The only borstal in the state was based for most of its existence in Clonmel, founded in 1906, it finally closed in 1956, when the remaining detainees were transferred to the newly established St. Patricks Institution in Dublin

5.
Vocational education
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Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities and are traditionally non-academic but related to a specific trade or occupation. Vocational education is referred to as career education or technical education. Vocational education can take place at the secondary, post-secondary, further education, and higher education level, however, online vocational education has grown in popularity, and made it easier than ever for students to learn various trade skills and soft skills from established professionals in the industry. Wilhelm von Humboldts educational model goes beyond vocational training, if this basis is laid through schooling, vocational skills are easily acquired later on, and a person is always free to move from one occupation to another, as so often happens in life. In Australia vocational education and training is mostly post-secondary and provided through the vocational education, however some senior schools do offer school-based apprenticeships and traineeships for students in years 10,11 and 12. Australia’s apprenticeship system includes both apprenticeships in trades and traineeships in other more service-oriented occupations. Both involve a legal contract between the employer and the apprentice or trainee and provide a combination of school-based and workplace training, Apprenticeships typically last three to four years, traineeships only one to two years. Apprentices and trainees receive a wage which increases as they progress through the training scheme and this allows national portability of qualifications and units of competency. A crucial feature of the package is that the content of the vocational qualifications is theoretically defined by industry. A Training Package is owned by one of 11 Industry Skills Councils which are responsible for developing and reviewing the qualifications, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research or NCVER is a not-for-profit company owned by the federal, state and territory ministries responsible for training. It is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, evaluating and communicating research and statistics about vocational education, the boundaries between vocational education and tertiary education are becoming more blurred. A number of training providers such as Melbourne Polytechnic, BHI. Such applied courses include equine studies, winemaking and viticulture, aquaculture, information technology, music, illustration, culinary management, the largest and the most unified system of vocational education was created in the Soviet Union with the professionalno-tehnicheskoye uchilische and Tehnikum. But it became effective with the transition of the economies of post-Soviet countries to a market economy. Education and training is the responsibility of states, but the single European labour market makes some cooperation on education imperative, including on vocational education. The process is based on mutually agreed priorities that are reviewed periodically, much of the activity is monitored by Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. In Finland, vocational education belongs to secondary education, after the nine-year comprehensive school, almost all students choose to go to either a lukio, which is an institution preparing students for tertiary education, or to a vocational school. Both forms of secondary education last three years, and give a qualification to enter university or ammattikorkeakoulu, i. e. Finnish polytechnics

6.
Supreme Court of India
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The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review. Consisting of the Chief Justice of India and 30 other judges, it has extensive powers in the form of original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions. As the final court of appeal of the country, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the High Courts of various states of the Union and other courts and it safeguards fundamental rights of citizens and settles disputes between various governments in the country. As an advisory court, it matters which may specifically be referred to it under the Constitution by the President of India. It also may take cognisance of matters on its own, without anyone drawing its attention to them, the law declared by the Supreme Court becomes binding on all courts within India. These new High Courts had the distinction of being the highest Courts for all cases till the creation of Federal Court of India under the Government of India Act 1935. The Federal Court had jurisdiction to solve disputes between provinces and federal states and hear appeal against judgements of the High Courts, the Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January 1950. It replaced both the Federal Court of India and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which were then at the apex of the Indian court system. Supreme Court initially had its seat at Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building where the previous Federal Court of India sat from 1937 to 1950, the first Chief Justice of India was Sir H J Kania. In 1958, the Supreme Court moved to its present premises, originally, Constitution of India envisaged a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and seven Judges, leaving it to Parliament to increase this number. In formative years, the Supreme Court met from 10 to 12 in the morning, the Right Wing of the structure has the bar - room, the offices of the Attorney General of India and other law officers and the library of the court. The Left Wing has the offices of the court, in all there are 15 court rooms in the various wings of the building. The foundation stone of the courts building was laid on 29 October 1954 by Rajendra Prasad. The Court moved into the building in 1958, in 1979, two new wings - the East Wing and the West Wing - were added to the complex. On 20 February 1980, a bronze sculpture of 210 centimeter height was installed in lawn of the Supreme Court. On the book, a balance is shown, which represents dispensation of justice to all. The sculpture was made by the renowned artist Chintamoni Kar The design of the Courts seal is reproduced from the wheel that appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion capital of Asoka with 24 spokes, the inscription in Sanskrit yatodharmastato jayah means whence law, thence victory. It is also referred to - as the wheel of righteousness, encompassing truth, goodness, Supreme Court Rules,2013 entitle only those advocates who are registered with the supreme court, called Advocates-on-Record to appear, act and plead for a party in the court

7.
Nonperson
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The term also refers to people whose death is unverifiable and about which inquiries result in a blank wall of nobody knows that. Who is a person and what every person is entitled to depends on context, for example, wards that are under the authority of a legal guardian due to infancy, incapacity, or disability are not usually considered nonpersons. There are many possible meanings associated with the term nonperson, in Nazi extermination camps, Jewish people and Romani were treated as nonpersons. The purpose of these camps was to systematically dehumanise these unwanted elements, use them where possible, nonperson status was required because it removed the moral and social obstacles for committing otherwise objectionable acts of violence, crime, abuse, and murder. Some people are held by governments or other bodies. This has happened in dictatorial regimes such as Chile under Pinochet, the USSR and it was also the guiding strategy behind the Nazi governments Nacht und Nebel policy in Western Europe. To dodge pointed questions regarding supposedly democratically controlled governments covertly holding people or employing torture, the existence of ghost detainees in a secret CIA prison system is an example of this. This is often the case of homeless and marginalized people in general, for example, in most countries, ordinary prisoners are denied political rights such as voting, in the most severe cases, total or partial isolation from the outside world can be inflicted. A nonperson status can also be consciously or unconsciously applied to unwanted persons by their surrounding society and this can be extended and applied to an entire nation or ethnic group, as often happens in wars or other conflicts. Similar cases, concerning contra-revolutionaries, are found in most socialist states, nonpersons are described in George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four as people who were erased from existence by alteration of records. The Newspeak word for such a person was unperson, in the real-time strategy game Red Alert 2, Yuri names General Vladimir as a nonperson, and orders the player to apprehend him. In the TV series Max Headroom, a group known as Blanks consists of people who have intentionally erased all records of themselves from government databases. In the MMORPG Eve Online, players from the largest in-game group, known as The Goonswarm Federation, refer to any players, other than perhaps their allies. Damnatio memoriae Homo sacer Personhood Stateless person

8.
Incarceration
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Imprisonment is the restraint of a persons liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is false imprisonment, people become prisoners, wherever they may be, by the mere word or touch of a duly authorized officer directed to that end. Usually, however, imprisonment is understood to imply an actual confinement in a jail or prison employed for the purpose according to the provisions of law, in English law, imprisonment is the restraint of a persons liberty. This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co and it is not imprisonment to prevent a person from proceeding along a particular way if it is possible for him to reach his intended destination by another route. Imprisonment without lawful cause is a tort called false imprisonment, Imprisonment is a type of sentence. Prison English criminal law#General power of Crown Court to impose a sentence of imprisonment on conviction on indictment, detention Life imprisonment Imprisonment for public protection

9.
Central Prison, Viyyur
–
Central Prison, Viyyur, is situated in Thrissur in Kerala state of India and is authorised to accommodate 520 prisoners. It is one of the three central prisons other than Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur situated in Kerala state and it is one of the most important correctional and detention centers in the state of Kerala. As per Kerala Prison Rules, the prison is meant to detain convicted habitual prisoners on a term basis. The prison has separate buildings designated as special jail and sub jail meant for short term convicts, Thrissur was the capital of the Kochi Kingdom for a long time hence the State Prison was located here. The original Thrissur Prison existed in front of Sri Vadakkumnathan Temple around 300 years ago, at the request of the prisoners, Kudamattom was conducted at the prison during the festival of Thrissur Pooram during the reign of H. H Sakthan Thampuran the Maharaja of Kochi. In 1914 the temple authority requested to shift the prison and consequently it was demolished and shifted to Viyyur. Almost 1000 acres of land from the property of H. H Parukutty Nethyaramma Consort Queen of Kochi, later much of this original land went into use for other state purposes such as All-India Radio, Television, a police training facility, Fire Force center etc. After independence, the Government of Kerala, took over the facility, the prison originally had almost 1000 acres of land however several state establishments were subsequently established on its premises. This reduced the land available for use by the prison to 147 acres. Out of which, the Central Jail occupies a space of 17 acres, the remaining land is used for other prison facilities and buildings. Among the blocks A, B, C, D are made for cellular confinement having 44 cells each, F and E blocks are dormitory type having four compartments and the latter is used for female prisoners as a separate enclosure. The prison has a library building and a well stocked library which has around 10,000 books in English, Hindi. The library is open from 9 am to 5 pm every day, Kerala prison rules prescribe that every prisoner in a ward shall be allowed not less than 3.72 m2 of floor area and 17 m3 of breathing space. Accordingly, every cell of A, B, C, D blocks can accommodate 2 prisoners and this means that in total 420 male prisoners and 100 female prisoners can be housed at Central Prison, Viyyur. The average prison population is around 630 male prisoners and 30 female prisoners and this reveals that male blocks are consistently overcrowded at around 50% over the authorised capacity

10.
Puzhal Central Prison
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Puzhal Central Prison is a central prison complex located in Chennai, India. It is about 23 km from the city centre, the prison became operational from 2006 replacing the erstwhile Chennai Central Prison. The plan for the construction of Puzhal prison was conceived during the early 2000s, sites in Puzhal and in Maraimalai Nagar were initially considered, and the final decision to construct at Puzhal was made due to the availability of large parcel of government-owned land. It was constructed by Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation for a cost of ₹1,770 million in less than 3 years and it was inaugurated by then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, on 26 November 2006. It is among the largest prison complexes in India, the prison complex occupies an area corresponding to 212 acres. It comprises three complexes of buildings, Puzhal Prison I for remand prisoners, Puzhal Prison II for convicts, a separate enclosure houses civil debtor convicts as well. It has a quarantine to segregate new entrants till medical examination is completed, the prison became operational since 26 September 2006, and the first batch of prisoners from Chennai Central Prison were transferred on 14 December 2006. The prison has facilities to house 1,250 remand prisoners,1,250 convicted prisoners and 500 women prisoners and he was later dismissed from service on 4 August 2008. On 10 June 2009, notorious criminal Welding Kumar was attacked and killed by fellow inmates, on 18 September 2016, Software techie Swathi murder case accused Ramkumar allegedly killed himself by biting a livewire used in a junction box. Chennai Central Prison Tamil Nadu Prison Department

11.
Madras Central Prison
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Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India. It was located in Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it began operational during the British rule in India in 1837. Prisoners from the prison were moved to the newly constructed Puzhal Central Prison starting in 2006, the prison was 172 years old when it was demolished in June 2009. Madras Central Prison was one of the oldest prisons in India and it was started during British rule in 1837. It was initially called the Madras penitentiary until 1855 when it was renamed to Central Jail. It was originally built to house transit convicts who were to face the sazaye kaala paani in Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it is said that the call for independence found its echo more in the Madras Presidency than elsewhere in the princely States. Many of those freedom fighters were arrested and lodged here, it is said a few of them died in custody, the prison housed Subhas Chandra Bose and Veer Savarkar during the days of independence movement. C. N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the prison also housed former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi and chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalitha. Also, several figures, including LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and Maoist leader of Nepal. The inmates in the prison went on a rampage against the following the death of an inmate named Vadivelu. They set fire to a room where the assistant warder had taken refuge, riot police were called in to contain the riots. The police initially used tear gas to quell the rioters, before resorting to live ammunition, in the battle which ensued between the inmates and the riot police,10 people including a prison official were killed and more than 100 people injured. The Madras Central prisoners were relocated to Puzhal Central Prison in Puzhal in 2006, the cost of the 13-acre land was estimated conservatively at Rs.4.75 billion. Demolition of the buildings began on 14 June 2009. In 2010, a new campus with a building for Madras Medical College was built on a land covering 325,000 sq ft on the prison premises and was completed in 2012 at a cost of ₹566.3 million. The campus will have nearly 1,250 students and 400 faculty, architecture of Chennai Heritage structures in Chennai

12.
Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, nicknamed the heart of India due to its geographical location in India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state in the country by area. With over 75 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-largest state in India by population and it borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Its total area is 308,252 km², subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. By the early 18th century, the region was divided into small kingdoms which were captured by the British and incorporated into Central Provinces and Berar. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, in recent years, the states GDP growth has been above the national average. Rich in mineral resources, MP has the largest reserves of diamond, more than 30% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. Isolated remains of Homo erectus found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the Middle Pleistocene era, painted pottery dated to the later mesolithic period has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Chalcolithic sites belonging to Kayatha culture and Malwa culture have been discovered in the part of the state. The city of Ujjain arose as a centre in the region. It served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom, other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics — Malava, Karusha, Dasarna and Nishada — have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India around 320 BCE, establishing the Mauryan Empire, ashoka the greatest of Mauryan rulers brought the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the Sakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas, Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the first century BCE, the Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni inflicted a defeat upon the Saka rulers and conquered parts of Malwa. Subsequently, the region came under the control of the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion, later, Harsha ruled the northern parts of the state

13.
Maharashtra
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Four Maharashtra is a state in the western region of India and is Indias second-most populous state and third-largest state by area. It is the wealthiest Indian state and it is also the worlds second-most populous sub-national entity. It has over 112 million inhabitants and its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million, Nagpur is Maharashtras second capital as well as its winter capital. Maharashtras business opportunities along with its potential to offer a standard of living attract migrants from all over India. Ancient and medieval Maharashtra included the empires of the Satavahana dynasty, Rashtrakuta dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Mughals, the major rivers of the state are Godavari, and Krishna. The Narmada and Tapti Rivers flow near the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Maharashtra is the second most urbanised state in India. The state has several popular Hindu places of pilgrimage including Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi, other places that attract pilgrims from other parts of India and beyond include Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi and Dikshabhumi at Nagpur. Maharashtra is the wealthiest and one of the most developed states in India, as of 2011, the state had a per capita income of ₹1.0035 lakh, more than the national average of ₹0.73 lakh. Its GDP per capita crossed the ₹1.20 lakh threshold for the first time in 2013, however, as of 2014, the GDP per capita reduced to ₹1.03 lakh Agriculture and industries are the largest parts of the states economy. Major industries include chemical products, electrical and non-electrical machinery, textiles, petroleum, Jai Maharashtra The modern Marathi language developed from the Maharashtri Prakrit, and the word Mahratta is found in the Jain Maharashtri literature. The terms Maharashtra, Maharashtri, Marathi and Maratha may have derived from the same root, however, their exact etymology is uncertain. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned before the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the most widely accepted theory among the linguistic scholars is that the words Maratha and Maharashtra ultimately derived from a combination of Maha and rashtrika. The word rashtrika is a Sanskritized form of Ratta, the name of a tribe or dynasty of petty chiefs ruling in the Deccan region. Another theory is that the term is derived from Maha and ratha / rathi, an alternative theory states that the term derives from the word Maha and Rashtra. However, this theory has not found acceptance among scholars who believe it to be the Sanskritised interpretation of later writers. Maharashtra was ruled by the Maurya Empire in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, around 230 BCE Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty for 400 years. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni, in 90 CE Vedishri, son of the Satavahana king Satakarni, the Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty, made Junnar, thirty miles north of Pune, the capital of his kingdom. The state was ruled by Western Satraps, Gupta Empire, Gurjara-Pratihara, Vakataka, Kadambas, Chalukya Empire, Rashtrakuta Dynasty, and Western Chalukya before finally

14.
Punjab, India
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Punjab is a state in North India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, a Union Territory, after the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab province of British India was divided between India and Pakistan. The Indian Punjab was divided on the basis of language in 1966 and it was divided into 3 parts. Haryanvi speaking areas were carved out as Haryana, Hilly regions, Punjab is the only Sikh majority state in India with Sikhs being 57. 69% of the population. Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab, Punjab has the largest number of steel rolling mill plants in India, which are located in Steel Town—Mandi Gobindgarh in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. The word Punjab is a compound of the Persian words panj, thus Panjāb roughly means the land of five rivers. The five rivers are the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, traditionally, in English, there used to be a definite article before the name, i. e. The name is sometimes spelled as Panjab. During the period when the epic Mahabharata was written, around 800–400 BCE, Punjab was known as Trigarta, the Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of the Punjab region with cities such as Rupar. The Vedic Civilization spread along the length of the Sarasvati River to cover most of northern India including Punjab and this civilisation shaped subsequent cultures in the Indian subcontinent. The Punjab region was conquered by many ancient empires including the Gandhara, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kushans, Guptas, Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas, the furthest eastern extent of Alexander the Greats exploration was along the Indus River. Agriculture flourished and trading cities such as Jalandhar, Sangrur and Ludhiana grew in wealth, due to its location, the Punjab region came under constant attack and influence from both west and east. Punjab faced invasions by the Achaemenids, Greeks, Scythians, Turks and this resulted in the Punjab witnessing centuries of bitter bloodshed. Its culture combines Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Sikh and British influences, the regions of Azad Kashmir and Jammu have also been historically associated with the Punjab. The Punjab is the Sapta Sindhu region mentioned in the Rig Veda, among the classic books that were wholly or partly composed in this region are the following. The Brahmins of this region are called Saraswata after the legendary Saraswati river region, Hinduism has been prevalent in Punjab since historical times before the arrival of Islam and birth of Sikhism in Punjab. Some of the influential Sikh figures such as Guru Nanak, Banda Singh Bahadur, Bhai Mati Das, many of Punjabs Hindus converted to Sikhism. Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas, many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and so on

15.
Rajasthan
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Rajasthan is Indias largest state by area. Elsewhere it is bordered by the other Indian states, Punjab to the north, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, and Gujarat to the southwest. Rajasthan is also home to two national reserves, the Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. The state was formed on 30 March 1949 when Rajputana – the name adopted by the British Raj for its dependencies in the region – was merged into the Dominion of India. Its capital and largest city is Jaipur, also known as Pink City, other important cities are Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota and Ajmer. Parts of what is now Rajasthan were partly part of the Vedic Civilisation, kalibangan, in Hanumangarh district, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Matsya Kingdom of the Vedic civilisation of India, is said to roughly corresponded to the state of Jaipur in Rajasthan. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagar, which is said to have named after its founder king Virata. Bhargava identifies the two districts of Jhunjhunu and Sikar and parts of Jaipur district along with Haryana districts of Mahendragarh, bhargava also locates the present day Sahibi River as the Vedic Drishadwati River, which along with Saraswati River formed the borders of the Vedic state of Brahmavarta. Manu and Bhrigu narrated the Manusmriti to a congregation of seers in this area only, the Indo-Scythians invaded the area of Ujjain and established the Saka era, marking the beginning of the long-lived Saka Western Satraps state. Gurjars ruled for many dynasties in this part of the country, up to the tenth century almost the whole of North India, acknowledged the supremacy of the Gurjars with their seat of power at Kannauj. The Gurjar Pratihar Empire acted as a barrier for Arab invaders from the 8th to the 11th century, the chief accomplishment of the Gurjara Pratihara empire lies in its successful resistance to foreign invasions from the west, starting in the days of Junaid. Majumdar says that this was acknowledged by the Arab writers. He further notes that historians of India have wondered at the progress of Muslim invaders in India. Traditionally the Rajputs, Jats, Meenas, REBARI, Gurjars, Bhils, Rajpurohit, Charans, Yadavs, Bishnois, Sermals, PhulMali, all these tribes suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land. Millions of them were killed trying to protect their land, a number of Gurjars had been exterminated in Bhinmal and Ajmer areas fighting with the invaders. Meenas were rulers of Bundi, Hadoti and the Dhundhar region, hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu Emperor, was born in the village of Machheri in Alwar District in 1501. Hem Chandra was killed in the battlefield at Second Battle of Panipat fighting against Mughals on 5 November 1556, maharana Pratap of Mewar resisted Akbar in the famous Battle of Haldighati and later operated from hilly areas of his kingdom

16.
Tamil Nadu
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Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai, Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The state shares a border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state in India by area and the sixth-most populous, the state was ranked sixth among states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011, with the second-largest state economy after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with ₹13,842 billion in gross domestic product after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu was ranked as one of the top seven developed states in India based on a Multidimensional Development Index in a 2013 report published by the Reserve Bank of India and its official language is Tamil, which is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world. Tamil Nadu is home to natural resources. In addition, its people have developed and continue classical arts, classical music, historic buildings and religious sites include Hindu temples of Tamil architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites, and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula, the ASI archaeologists have proposed that the script used at that site is very rudimentary Tamil Brahmi. Adichanallur has been announced as a site for further excavation. About 60 per cent of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the ASI in India are from Tamil Nadu. A Neolithic stone celt with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, according to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. Mahadevan claimed that the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, the date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature, numismatic, archaeological and literary sources corroborate that the Sangam period lasted for about six centuries, from 300 BC to AD300. Three dynasties, namely the Chera, Chola and Pandya, ruled the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, the Chera ruled the whole of present-day Kerala and parts of western Tamil Nadu comprising Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Karur, Salem and Erode districts from the capital of Vanchi Muthur. The Chola dynasty ruled the northern and central parts of Tamil Nadu from their capital, Uraiyur, All three dynasties had extensive trade relationships with Rome, Greece, Egypt, Ceylon, Phoenicia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Persia. Trade flourished in commodities such as spices, ivory, pearls, beads, Chera traded extensively from Muziris on the west coast, Chola from Arikamedu and Puhar and Pandya through Korkai port. A Greco-Roman trade and travel document, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a description of the Tamil country, besides these three dynasties, the Sangam era Tamilakam was also divided into various provinces named nadu, meaning country

17.
Karnataka
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Karnataka is a state in south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The capital and largest city is Bangalore, the state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India. It is the seventh largest Indian state by area, with 61,130,704 inhabitants at the 2011 census, Karnataka is the eighth largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Kannada, one of the languages of India, is the most widely spoken. Most of these rivers flow out of Karnataka eastward into the Bay of Bengal, though several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka, the generally accepted one is that Karnataka is derived from the Kannada words karu and nādu, meaning elevated land. Karu nadu may also be read as karu, meaning black, the British used the word Carnatic, sometimes Karnatak, to describe both sides of peninsular India, south of the Krishna. With an antiquity that dates to the paleolithic, Karnataka has been home to some of the most powerful empires of ancient, the philosophers and musical bards patronised by these empires launched socio-religious and literary movements which have endured to the present day. Karnataka has contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions, Karnatakas pre-history goes back to a paleolithic hand-axe culture evidenced by discoveries of, among other things, hand axes and cleavers in the region. Evidence of neolithic and megalithic cultures have also found in the state. Gold discovered in Harappa was found to be imported from mines in Karnataka, prior to the third century BCE, most of Karnataka formed part of the Nanda Empire before coming under the Mauryan empire of Emperor Ashoka. Four centuries of Satavahana rule followed, allowing them to large areas of Karnataka. The decline of Satavahana power led to the rise of the earliest native kingdoms, the Kadambas, the Kadamba Dynasty, founded by Mayurasharma, had its capital at Banavasi, the Western Ganga Dynasty was formed with Talakad as its capital. These were also the first kingdoms to use Kannada in administration, as evidenced by the Halmidi inscription, the Western Chalukyas patronised a unique style of architecture and Kannada literature which became a precursor to the Hoysala art of 12th century. Parts of modern-day Southern Karnataka were occupied by the Chola Empire at the turn of 11th century, the Cholas and the Hoysalas fought over the region in the early 12th century before it eventually came under Hoysala rule. At the turn of the first millennium, the Hoysalas gained power in the region, literature flourished during this time, which led to the emergence of distinctive Kannada literary metres, and the construction of temples and sculptures adhering to the Vesara style of architecture. The expansion of the Hoysala Empire brought minor parts of modern Andhra Pradesh, in the early 14th century, Harihara and Bukka Raya established the Vijayanagara empire with its capital, Hosapattana, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the modern Bellary district. The empire rose as a bulwark against Muslim advances into South India, in 1565, Karnataka and the rest of South India experienced a major geopolitical shift when the Vijayanagara empire fell to a confederation of Islamic sultanates in the Battle of Talikota

18.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi

19.
Arunachal Pradesh
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Arunachal Pradesh /ˌɑːrəˌnɑːtʃəl prəˈdɛʃ/ is one of the twenty-nine states of India. Located in northeast India, it holds the most north-eastern position among the states in the north-east region of India. Arunachal Pradesh borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, Itanagar is the capital of the state. Arunachal Pradesh has territorial disputes with both the PRC and ROC due to its cultural, ethnic and geographic proximity to Tibet. A major part of the state, formerly called the North-East Frontier Agency, is disputed by China as the legality of the Simla Accord is not recognized by it, China claims most of the state as South Tibet. The state is seen to have potential for hydropower development. Arunachal Pradesh, whose name means Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains in Sanskrit, is known as the Orchid State of India or the Paradise of the Botanists. Geographically, it is the largest among the North-east Indian states commonly known as the Seven Sister States, as in other parts of Northeast India, the people native to the state trace their origins to the Tibeto-Burman people. In recent times, large number of migrants from parts of India and other lands have built extensive economic. No reliable population count of the migrant population exists, and the percentage estimating the actual population accordingly. Arunachal Pradesh has the highest number of languages in the Indian subcontinent, enriched with diverse culture. Neolithic tools found in Arunachal Pradesh indicate that people have living in the Himalayan region for at least eleven thousand years. The history of pre-modern Arunachal Pradesh is unclear, oral histories possessed to this day by many Arunachali tribes of Tibeto-Burman stock are much richer and point unambiguously to a northern origin in modern-day Tibet. Recorded history from an outside perspective only became available in the Ahom, the Monpa and Sherdukpen do keep historical records of the existence of local chiefdoms in the northwest as well. Northwestern parts of this came under the control of the Monpa kingdom of Monyul. This region then came under the control of Tibet and Bhutan. The remaining parts of the state, especially those bordering Myanmar, were under the control of the Sutiya Kings until the Ahom-Sutiya battle in the 16th century, the Ahoms held the areas until the annexation of India by the British in 1858. However, most Arunachali tribes remained in practice largely autonomous up until Indian independence, recent excavations of ruins of Hindu temples such as the 14th century Malinithan at the foot of the Siang hills in West Siang were built during the Sutiya reign

20.
Meghalaya
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Meghalaya is a state in northeast India. The name means the abode of clouds in Sanskrit, the population of Meghalaya as of 2016 is estimated to be 3,211,474. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 22,430 square kilometers, the state is bounded to the south by the Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh and Sylhet, to the west by the Bangladeshi division of Rangpur, and to the north and east by Indias State of Assam. The capital of Meghalaya is Shillong, during the British occupation of India, the British imperialist authorities nicknamed it the Scotland of the East. Meghalaya was previously part of Assam, but on 21 January 1972, English is the official language of Meghalaya. The other principal languages spoken include Khasi, Pnar, Hajong, Rabha, Garo, the state is the wettest region of India, recording an average of 12,000 mm of rains a year. About 70% of the state is forested, the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion encompasses the state, its mountain forests are distinct from the lowland tropical forests to the north and south. The forests are notable for their biodiversity of mammals, birds, Meghalaya has predominantly an agrarian economy with a significant commercial forestry industry. The important crops are potatoes, rice, maize, pineapples, bananas, papayas, spices, the service sector is made up of real estate and insurance companies. Meghalayas gross state product for 2012 was estimated at ₹16,173 crore in current prices. The state is rich in minerals, but it has no significant industries. The state has about 1,170 km of national highways and it is also a major logistical center for trade with Bangladesh. Ancient Meghalaya, along with neighboring Indian states, have been of archeological interest, people have lived here since neolithic era. Neolithic sites discovered so far are located in areas of high elevation such as in Khasi Hills, Garo Hills, here neolithic style jhum or shifting cultivation is practiced even today. The highland plateaus fed by abundant rains provided safety from floods, the importance of Meghalaya is its possible role in human history through domestication of rice. The limited archeology done in the hills of Meghalaya suggest human settlement since ancient times, modern history Meghalaya was formed by carving out two districts from the state of Assam, the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, and the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972. Before attaining full statehood, Meghalaya was given semi-autonomous status in 1970, the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia tribes had their own kingdoms until they came under British administration in the 19th century. Later, the British incorporated Meghalaya into Assam in 1835, the region enjoyed semi-independent status by virtue of a treaty relationship with the British Crown

21.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
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The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the seven union territories of India, are a group of islands at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The territory is 150 km north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated from Thailand and it comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 10°N parallel, with the Andamans to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west, the territorys capital is the Andamanese town of Port Blair. The total land area of islands is approximately 8,249 km2. The capital of Nicobar Islands is Car Nicobar, the islands host the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the only tri-service geographical command of the Indian Armed Forces. The Andaman Islands are home to the only known Paleolithic people, the Sentinelese people, the earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years. Since that time, the Andamanese have diversified into distinct linguistic, the Nicobar Islands appear to have been populated by people of various backgrounds. At the time of the European contact, the inhabitants were the Nicobarese people, speaking a Mon-Khmer language. Both are unrelated to the Andamanese, but being closely related to the Myanmarese, rajendra Chola I, one of the Tamil Chola dynasty kings, conquered the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to use them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Sriwijaya Empire. The islands also provided a maritime base for ships of the Maratha Empire in the 17th century. The Maratha navys admiral Kanhoji Angre established naval supremacy with a base in the islands and is credited with attaching those islands to India. The history of organised European colonisation on the islands began when the Danish settlers of the Danish East India Company arrived in the Nicobar Islands on 12 December 1755. On 1 January 1756, the Nicobar Islands were made a Danish colony, first named New Denmark, during 1754–1756 they were administrated from Tranquebar. The islands were abandoned due to outbreaks of malaria between 14 April 1759 and 19 August 1768, from 1787 to 1807/05,1814 to 1831,1830 to 1834. From 1 June 1778 to 1784, Austria mistakenly assumed that Denmark had abandoned its claims to the Nicobar Islands and attempted to establish a colony on them, renaming them Theresia Islands. In 1789 the British set up a base and penal colony on Chatham Island next to Great Andaman. Two years later the colony was moved to Port Cornwallis on Great Andaman, denmarks presence in the territory ended formally on 16 October 1868 when it sold the rights to the Nicobar Islands to Britain, which made them part of British India in 1869. In 1858 the British again established a colony at Port Blair, the primary purpose was to set up a penal colony criminal convicts from the Indian subcontinent

22.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
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Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a union territory in Western India. It is composed of two separate entities, Nagar Haveli, wedged between Maharashtra and Gujarat, and,1 km to the northwest, the smaller enclave of Dadra. The area of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is spread over 491 square kilometres, though landlocked between Gujarat to the north and Maharashtra to the south, it is close to the Western coast of India, and the Arabian Sea can be reached via Vapi in Gujarat. The Union Territory comprises two geographical units. The larger part - Nagar Haveli - spans a roughly c-shaped area upriver from the city of Daman on the coast, at the centre of which, the smaller enclave of Dadra is a short distance to the northwest. Dadra and Nagar Haveli is in the middle of the watershed of the Daman Ganga River. The towns of Dadra and Silvassa lie on the bank of the river. The Western Ghats range rises to the east, and the foothills of the range occupy the portion of the district. Dadra and Nagar Haveli ranks 4th in area among the Union Territories and it is surrounded by Valsad District of Gujarat on the West, North, and East, and by Thane District of Maharashtra on the South and South-East. Maghval is a small village belonging to Gujarat that is located within Nagar Haveli. The nearest railway station is Vapi in Gujarat on the Mumbai-Delhi route, bombay is approximately 180 km from Silvassa. Surat city is about 140 km away, the stretch of the main southern area is hilly terrain especially towards the northeast and east where it is surrounded by ranges of Sahyadri mountains. The central alluvial region of the land is almost plain and the soil is fertile, the river Damanganga rises in the Ghat 64 km from the western coast and discharges itself in the Arabian Sea at the port of Daman after crossing Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Its three tributaries viz. Varna, Pipri and Sakartond join Daman Ganga within the territory, about 43% of the land is under forest cover. However, the reserved forest cohis territory constitutes about 40% of the geographical area. The protected forests constitute 2. 45% of the land area. According to satellite data taken in 2008, DNH has roughly about 114 square kilometres of dense forest and 94 square kilometres open forest. As per Forest Survey of India, DNH has two major forest types, tropical moist deciduous forest and tropical dry deciduous forest, the major produce is khairwood/khair and general timber

23.
Daman and Diu
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Daman and Diu /dəˈmɑːn/ & /ˈdiːuː/ is a coastal union territory in India, which was part of the Portuguese colony of Goa until 1961. For over 450 years, the enclaves of Daman and Diu on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra. Goa, Daman and Diu were incorporated into the Republic of India on December 19,1961, Portugal did not recognise the Indian annexation of these territories until 1974. The territory of Goa, Daman and Diu was administered as a union territory until 1987. Each enclave constitutes one of the territorys two districts. Daman and Diu are approximately 650 kilometres away from each other by road, according to the 2011 census, the lowest female to male ratio in India was recorded in Daman and Diu. The Daman district, with a female to male ratio of.533, is among the lowest of all the districts in India, Gujarati is the mother tongue of most the territory’s population, as they belong to the Gujarati-speaking Damaniya sub-caste. Along with Gujarati, Konkani, Hindi and English are all official languages, Hindi and English are official languages because they are official languages of India’s central government. Konkani is a language since Daman and Diu were once part of a combined union territory along with Goa. Marathi, spoken in the state of Maharashtra, is also widely understood. The use of Portuguese, which was the official language during the colonial period, is in decline. It is also used as a language by some of the territory’s Catholics. Standard Portuguese exists in a post-creole continuum while Daman and Diu Portuguese is spoken by about 10, the Catholics are pastorally served by the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, which has its see in Goa and is the primatial see of all India. Previously, this post was held by Shri B. S. Bhalla and he was assisted by a number of other officers in carrying out his duty. Currently, this post is held by Praful khoda patel, Diu District, an area of 40 km². The main settlement is the town of Diu, Daman District, an area of 28 sq mi or 72 km². The main settlement is the city of Daman, the states domestic product for Daman and Diu in 2005 was estimated at 156 million US dollars at current prices. There is also Daman College which has most of the educational facilities, Daman and Diu are connected by roads, and are 12 km from Vapi,125 km from Surat, and 150 km from Mumbai

24.
Lakshadweep
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Lakshadweep, formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea,200 to 440 km off the south western coast of India. The archipelago is a Union Territory and is governed by the Union Government of India and they were also known as Laccadive Islands, although geographically this is only the name of the central subgroup of the group. Lakshadweep comes from Lakshadweepa, which one hundred thousand islands in Sanskrit. The islands form the smallest Union Territory of India, their surface area is just 32 km2. The lagoon area covers about 4,200 km2, the territorial waters area 20,000 km2, the region forms a single Indian district with 10 subdivisions. Kavaratti serves as the capital of the Union Territory and the region comes under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court, the islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands, which are the tops of a vast undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. As the islands do not have any aboriginal groups, different views have been postulated by the scholars about the history of habitation on these islands, archaeological evidence supports the existence of human settlement in the region around 1500 BC. The islands have long known to sailors, as indicated by an anonymous reference from the first century AD to the region in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The islands were referenced also in the Buddhist Jataka stories of the sixth century BC, the arrival of Muslim missionaries around the seventh century led to the advent of Islam in the region. During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the Chola dynasty, the Portuguese arrived around 1498 and were upstaged by 1545. The region was ruled by the Muslim house of Arakkal. On his death in 1799, most of the region passed on to the British and with their departure, Ten of the islands are inhabited. At the 2011 Indian census, the population of the Union Territory was 64,473, the majority of the indigenous population is Muslim and most of them belong to the Shafi school of the Sunni sect. The islanders are ethnically similar to the Malayali people of the nearest Indian state of Kerala, most of the population speaks Malayalam with Mahi being the most spoken language in Minicoy island. The islands are served by an airport on the Agatti island, the main occupation of the people is fishing and coconut cultivation, with tuna being the main item of export. A mention of the region in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, There are references to the control of the islands by the Cheras in the Sangam Patiṟṟuppattu. Local traditions and legends attribute the first settlement on these islands to the period of Cheraman Perumal, the oldest inhabited islands in the group are Amini, Kalpeni Andrott, Kavaratti, and Agatti. Archaeological evidence suggests that Buddhism prevailed in the region during the fifth and sixth centuries CE, according to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep by an Arab named Ubaidulla in 661 CE

25.
Uttar Pradesh
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Uttar Pradesh, abbreviated as UP, is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. The state, located in the region of the Indian subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule, Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bhadohi, Raebareli, Moradabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Sonbhadra, on 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh. It covers 243,290 square kilometres, equal to 7. 33% of the area of India. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts, Uttar Pradesh is the third largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ₹9,763 billion. Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the states economy, the service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, the two major rivers of the state, the Ganges and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganges further east. Modern human hunter-gatherers have been in Uttar Pradesh since between around 85,000 and 72,000 years ago, the kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture, most of the invaders of south India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of importance to the power and stability of all of Indias major empires, including the Maurya, Kushan, Gupta. Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj, during the reign of Harshavardhana, the Kannauj empire reached its zenith. It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and it included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain. Many communities in parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj. Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty, in the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire. Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Delhi, in 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun. Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior, after the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal

26.
Bihar
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Bihar is a state in the eastern part of India. It is the 13th-largest state of India, with an area of 94,163 km2. The third-largest state of India by population, it is contiguous with Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the Bihar plain is split by the river Ganges which flows from west to east. On November 15,2000, southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand, only 11. 3% of the population of Bihar lives in urban areas, which is lowest in India after Himachal Pradesh. Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, the official languages of the state are Hindi and Urdu. Other languages commonly used within the state include Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi, Bajjika, in ancient and classical India, Bihar was considered a centre of power, learning, and culture. From Magadha arose Indias first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the worlds most widely adhered-to religions, Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Another region of Bihar is Mithila which was a centre of Brahmanical learning. Since the late 1970s, Bihar has lagged far behind other Indian states in terms of social, the state government has, however, made significant strides in developing the state. The name Bihar is derived from the Sanskrit and Pali word, Vihara, the region roughly encompassing the present state was dotted with Buddhist vihara, the abodes of Buddhist monks in the ancient and medieval periods. Medieval writer Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani records in the Tabakat-i-Nasiri that in 1198, Bakhtiyar Khalji committed a massacre in a town now known as Bihar Sharif, chirand, on the northern bank of the Ganga River, in Saran district, has an archaeological record from the Neolithic age. Regions of Bihar—such as Magadha, Mithila and Anga—are mentioned in religious texts, the power centre of ancient Bihar was in the region of modern-day southwestern Bihar called Magadha, which remained the centre of power, learning, and culture in India for 1000 years. The Haryanka dynasty, founded in 684 BC, ruled Magadha from the city of Rajgriha, the two well-known kings from this dynasty were Bimbisara and his son Ajatashatru, who imprisoned his father to ascend the throne. Ajatashatru founded the city of Pataliputra which later became the capital of Magadha and he declared war and conquered the Vajji of north Bihar, another powerful Mahajanapada north of Ganges with its capital at Vaishali. Vaishali was ruled by the Licchavi clan, who had a form of government where the king was elected from the number of rajas. The Haryanka dynasty was followed by the Shishunaga dynasty, later the Nanda Dynasty ruled a vast tract stretching from Bengal to Punjab. The Nanda dynasty was replaced by the Maurya Empire, Indias first empire, the Maurya Empire and the religion of Buddhism arose in the region that now makes up modern Bihar. The Mauryan Empire, which originated from Magadha in 325 BC, was founded by Chandragupta Maurya and it had its capital at Pataliputra

27.
Assam
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Assam (English pronunciation, /əˈsæm/ listen is a state in northeastern India. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya, is one of the Seven Sister States. Geographically, Assam and these states are connected to the rest of India via a 22 kilometres strip of land in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or Chickens Neck. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, and its culture, people. Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam silk, the first oil well in Asia was drilled here. The state has conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the water buffalo, pygmy hog, tiger. It provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant, the Assamese economy is aided by wildlife tourism, centred around Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are World Heritage Sites. Sal tree forests are found in the state which, as a result of abundant rainfall, Assam receives more rainfall compared to most parts of India. This rain feeds the Brahmaputra River, whose tributaries and oxbow lakes provide the region with a hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment, the precise etymology of Assam came from Ahom Dynasty. In the classical period and up to the 12th century the region east of the Karatoya river, largely congruent to present-day Assam, was called Kamarupa, in medieval times the Mughals used Asham and Kamrup, and during British colonialism, the English used Assam. Though many authors have associated the name with the 13th century Shan invaders the precise origin of the name is not clear. It was suggested by some that the Sanskrit word Asama was the root, which has been rejected by Kakati, among possible origins are Tai and Bodo. Assam and adjoining regions have evidences of settlements from all the periods of the Stone ages. The hills at the height of 1, 500–2,000 feet were popular habitats probably due to availability of exposed dolerite basalt, useful for tool-making. According to a text, Kalika Purana, the earliest ruler of Assam was Mahiranga Danav of the Danava dynasty. The last of these rulers, also Naraka, was slain by Krishna, narakas son Bhagadatta became the king, who fought for the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra with an army of kiratas, chinas and dwellers of the eastern coast. Samudraguptas 4th century Allahabad pillar inscription mentions Kamarupa and Davaka as frontier kingdoms of the Gupta Empire, ruled by three dynasties Varmanas, Mlechchha dynasty and Kamarupa-Palas, from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, Tezpur and North Gauhati respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from Narakasura, an immigrant from Aryavarta, in the reign of the Varman king, Bhaskar Varman, the Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited the region and recorded his travels

28.
Jharkhand
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Jharkhand is a state in eastern India carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and it has an area of 79,710 km2. The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub capital, Jamshedpur is the largest industrial city in the state, while Dhanbad and Bokaro Steel City are the second and fourth most populous cities respectively. The State is primarily a state as only 24 percent of the population resides in Cities. According to writers including Gautam Kumar Bera, there was already a distinct geo-political, cultural entity called Jharkhand even before the Magadha Empire, beras book also refers to the Hindu epic Bhavishya Purana. The tribal rulers, some of whom continue to thrive till today were known as the Munda Rajas, for a greater part of Vedic age, Jharkhand remained unnoticed. During the age of Mahajanpadas around 500 BC, India saw the emergence of 16 large states that controlled the entire Indian subcontinent, in those days the northern portion of Jharkhand state was a tributary state of Magadha Empire and southern part was a tributary of Kalinga Empire. According to legend, Raja Jai Singh Deo of Odisha declared himself the ruler of Jharkhand in the 13th century, the Singh Deos of Orissa were influential in the early history of Jharkhand. The local tribal heads had developed into barbaric dictators who could govern the province neither fairly nor justly, consequently, the people of this state approached the more powerful rulers of Jharkhands neighboring states who were perceived to have a more fair and just governance. The good tribal rulers continued to thrive and were known as the Munda Rajas, later, during the Mughal period, the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara. In the year 1765, it came under the control of the British Empire and became known under its present title, Jharkhand — the Land of jungles. In 1765, the region came under the control of the British East India Company, the subjugation and colonisation of Jharkhand region by the British East India Company resulted in spontaneous resistance from the local people. The first ever revolt against the landlords and the British government was led by Tilka Manjhi and he wanted to liberate his people from the clutches of the unscrupulous landlords and restore the lands of their ancestors. The British government sent its troops and crushed the uprisings of Tilka Manjhi, soon after in 1779, the Bhumij tribes rose in arms against the British rule in Manbhum, now in West Bengal. This was followed by the Chero tribes unrest in Palamau and they revolted against the British rule in 1800 AD. Hardly seven years later in 1807, the Oraons in Barway murdered their big landlord of Srinagar west of Gumla, soon the uprisings spread around Gumla. The tribal uprisings spread eastward to neighbouring Tamar areas of the Munda tribes and they too rose in revolt in 1811 and 1813. The Hos in Singhbhum were growing restless and came out in revolt in 1820 and fought against the landlords

29.
Haryana
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Haryana is one of the 29 states in India, situated in North India. It was carved out of the state of East Punjab on 1 November 1966 on a linguistic basis. It stands 21st in terms of its area, which is spread about 44,212 km2, as of 2011 census of India, the state is eighteenth largest by population with 25,353,081 inhabitants. The city of Chandigarh is its capital while the NCR city of Faridabad is the most populous city of the state, Haryana is one of the most economically developed regions in South Asia, and its agricultural and manufacturing industries have experienced sustained growth since the 1970s. Since 2000, the state has emerged as the largest recipient of investment per capita in India and it is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south. The river Yamuna defines its border with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana surrounds the countrys capital Delhi on three sides, forming the northern, western and southern borders of Delhi, consequently, a large area of south Haryana is included in the National Capital Region for purposes of planning for development. The name Haryana is found in the works of the 12th-century AD Apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar, the name Haryana has been derived from the Sanskrit words Hari and ayana, meaning the Abode of God. However, scholars such as Muni Lal, Murli Chand Sharma, HA Phadke and Sukhdev Singh Chib believe that the name comes from a compound of the words Hari and Aranya. Vedic state of Brahmavarta is claimed to be located in a new research in south Haryana, manusmriti, a flood time document composed by Manu and Bhrigu is now dated 10,000 years old. Rakhigarhi village in the Hisar district is home to the largest and one of the oldest ancient Indus Valley Civilization sites, evidence of paved roads, a drainage system, a large-scale rainwater collection storage system, terracotta brick and statue production, and skilled metal working have been uncovered. According to archeologists, Rakhigarhi may be the origin of Harappan civilisation, the area that is now Haryana has been ruled by major empires of India. Panipat is known for three seminal battles in the history of India, in the First Battle of Panipat, Babur defeated the Lodis. In the Second Battle of Panipat, Akbar defeated the local Haryanvi Hindu Emperor of Delhi, hemu, had earlier won 22 battles across India from Punjab to Bengal defeating Mughals and Afghans. Hemu had defeated Akbars forces twice at Agra and Battle of Delhi in 1556 to become last Hindu Emperor of India with formal Coronation at Purana Quila in Delhi on 7th Oct.1556, in the Third Battle of Panipat, the Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas. Haryana state was formed on 1 November 1966, the commission delivered its report on 31 May 1966 whereby the then-districts of Hisar, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal were to be a part of the new state of Haryana. Further, the tehsils of Jind and Narwana in the Sangrur district—along with Naraingarh, Ambala, the commission recommended that the tehsil of Kharad, which includes Chandigarh, the state capital of Punjab, should be a part of Haryana. However, only a portion of Kharad was given to Haryana

30.
Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land

31.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language

32.
Chhattisgarh
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Chhattisgarh is one of 29 states located in central India. It is the 10th largest state in India, with an area of 135,194 km2, with a population of 28 million, Chhattisgarh is the 17th most-populated state in the country. A resource-rich state, it is a source of electricity and steel for the country, Chhattisgarh is one of the fastest-developing states in India. The state was formed on 1 November 2000 by partitioning 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh, currently the state comprises 27 districts. The following are the list of the districts of Chhattisgarh State, There are several opinions as to the origin of the name Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh was popularized later during the time of the Maratha Empire and was first used in an official document in 1795. It is claimed that Chhattisgarh takes its name from the 36 ancient forts in the area, however, experts do not agree with this explanation, as 36 forts cannot be archaeologically identified in this region. Another view, more popular with experts and historians, is that Chhattisgarh is the form of Chedisgarh which means Raj or Empire of the Chedis. In ancient times, Chhattisgarh region had been part of the Chedi dynasty of Kaling, in the medieval period up to 1803, a major portion of present eastern Chhattisgarh was part of the Sambalpur Kingdom of Odisha. The northern and southern parts of the state are hilly, while the part is a fertile plain. The highest point in the state is the Bailadila Range, deciduous forests of the Eastern Highlands Forests cover roughly 44% of the state. The state animal is the van bhainsa, or wild water buffalo, the state bird is the pahari myna, or hill myna. The state tree is the Sal found in Bastar division, in the north lies the edge of the great Indo-Gangetic plain. The Rihand River, a tributary of the Ganges, drains this area, the eastern end of the Satpura Range and the western edge of the Chota Nagpur Plateau form an east-west belt of hills that divide the Mahanadi River basin from the Indo-Gangetic plain. The outline of Chhattisgarh is like a sea horse, the central part of the state lies in the fertile upper basin of the Mahanadi river and its tributaries. This area has extensive rice cultivation, the upper Mahanadi basin is separated from the upper Narmada basin to the west by the Maikal Hills and from the plains of Odisha to the east by ranges of hills. The southern part of the lies on the Deccan plateau, in the watershed of the Godavari River and its tributary. The Mahanadi is the river of the state. The other main rivers are Hasdo, Rihand, Indravati, Jonk, Arpa and it is situated in the east of Madhya Pradesh

33.
Jammu and Kashmir
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Jammu and Kashmir is a state in northern India, often denoted by the acronym J&K. It is located mostly in the Himalayan mountains, and shares borders with the states of Himachal Pradesh, the state has special autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution of India. A part of the erstwhile Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu, the western districts of the former princely state known as Azad Kashmir and the northern territories known as Gilgit-Baltistan have been under Pakistani control since 1947. The Aksai Chin region in the east, bordering Tibet, has been under Chinese control since 1962, Jammu and Kashmir consists of three regions, Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. Srinagar is the capital, and Jammu is the winter capital. Jammu and Kashmir is the state in India with a Muslim-majority population. The Kashmir valley is famous for its mountainous landscape. Ladakh, also known as Little Tibet, is renowned for its remote mountain beauty, Maharaja Hari Singh became the ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1925, and he was the reigning monarch at the conclusion of the British rule in the subcontinent in 1947. Jammu and Kashmir had a Muslim majority, following the logic of Partition, many people in Pakistan expected that Kashmir would join Pakistan. However, the predominant political movement in the Valley of Kashmir was secular, so many in India too had expectations that Kashmir would join India. The Maharaja was faced with indecision, on 22 October 1947, rebellious citizens from the western districts of the State and Pushtoon tribesmen from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan invaded the State, backed by Pakistan. The Maharaja initially fought back but appealed for assistance to the India, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947 in return for military aid and assistance, which was accepted by the Governor General the next day. Once the Instrument of Accession was signed, Indian soldiers entered Kashmir with orders to evict the raiders, the resulting Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 lasted till the end of 1948. At the beginning of 1948, India took the matter to the United Nations Security Council, a ceasefire was agreed on 1 January 1949, supervised by UN observers. A special United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan was set up to negotiate the arrangements as per the Security Council resolution. The UNCIP made three visits to the subcontinent between 1948 and 1949, trying to find a solution agreeable to both India and Pakistan and it passed a resolution in August 1948 proposing a three-part process. It was accepted by India but effectively rejected by Pakistan, in the end, no withdrawal was ever carried out, India insisting that Pakistan had to withdraw first, and Pakistan contending that there was no guarantee that India would withdraw afterwards. No agreement could be reached between the two countries on the process of demilitarisation, India and Pakistan fought two further wars in 1965 and 1971

34.
Nagaland
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Nagaland /ˈnɑːɡəlænd/ is a state in Northeast India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east, the state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur. It has an area of 16,579 square kilometres with a population of 1,980,602 per the 2011 Census of India, each tribe is unique in character with its own distinct customs, language and dress. Two threads common to all are language and religion, Nagaland is one of three states in India where the population is mostly Christian. Nagaland became the 16th state of India on 1 December 1963, agriculture is the most important economic activity and the principal crops include rice, corn, millets, pulses, tobacco, oilseeds, sugarcane, potatoes, and fibres. Other significant economic activity includes forestry, tourism, insurance, real estate, the state has experienced insurgency as well as inter-ethnic conflict since the 1950s. The violence and insecurity have long limited Nagalands economic development, because it had to commit its scarce resources on law, order, and security. In the last 15 years, the state has seen violence and annual economic growth rates nearing 10% on a compounded basis. The state is mostly mountainous except those areas bordering Assam valley which comprises 9% of the area of the state. Mount Saramati is the highest peak at 3,840 metres and it lies between the parallels of 98 and 96 degrees east longitude and 26.6 and 27.4 degrees latitude north. The state is home to a variety of flora and fauna. The ancient history of the Nagas is unclear, tribes migrated at different times, each settling in the northeastern part of present India and establishing their respective sovereign mountain terrains and village-states. The origin of the word ‘Naga is also unclear, a popularly accepted, but controversial, view is that it originated from the Burmese word ‘naka’ or naga, meaning people with earrings. Others suggest it means pierced noses, both naka and naga are pronounced the same way in Burmese. The ancient name of Nagaland is Nakanchi or Naganchi, derived from the Naga language, before the arrival of European colonialism in South Asia, there had been many wars, persecution and raids from Burma on Naga tribes, Meitei people and others in Indias northeast. The invaders came for hunting and to seek wealth and captives from these tribes. When the British inquired Burmese guides about the living in northern Himalayas. This was recorded as ‘Naga’ and has been in use thereafter, with the arrival of British East India Company in the early 19th century, followed by the British Raj, Britain expanded its domain over entire South Asia including the Naga Hills

35.
Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162,968 km2, as per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of not exceeding 10 years. The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA, the Gross State Domestic Product of the state in the 2016–2017 financial year at current prices stood at ₹6,800.3 billion. The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters, the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat. It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions, Coastal Andhra, located along the Bay of Bengal, and Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the worlds most visited religious sites, a tribe named Andhra has been mentioned in the Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India, archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE, the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jatiya and Andhra-bhrtya in the Puranic literature, Dharanikota along with Amaravathi was the capital of the later Satavahanas. Amaravathi became a trade and pilgrimage centre during the Satavahana rule. According to the Buddhist tradition, Nagarjuna lived here, possibly in second, Andhra Ikshvakus were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of the Guntur-Krishna regions of Andhra Pradesh. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the half of the second century CE. Puranas called Andhra Ikshvakus Shri Parvatiya Andhras, archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley

36.
Odisha
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Odisha (/ɒˈrɪsə, ɔː-, oʊ-/, is one of the 29 states of India, located in the eastern coast. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the north-east, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and north-west, Odisha has 485 kilometres of coastline along the Bay of Bengal on its east, from Balasore to Malkangiri. It is the 9th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population and it is also the 3rd most populous state of India in terms of tribal population. Odia is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census. The ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the Kalinga War, the modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day, the region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned in Indias national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. Cuttack was made the capital of the region by Anantavarman Chodaganga in c,1135, after which the city was used as the capital by many rulers, through the British era until 1948. Thereafter, Bhubaneswar became the capital of Odisha, the term Odisha is derived from the ancient Prakrit word Odda Visaya as in the Tirumalai inscription of Rajendra Chola I, which is dated to 1025. Sarala Das, who translated the Mahabharata into the Odia language in the 15th century, calls the region Odra Rashtra, the inscriptions of Kapilendra Deva of the Gajapati Kingdom on the walls of temples in Puri call the region Odisha or Odisha Rajya. After a brief debate, the house, Lok Sabha, passed the bill. On 24 March 2011, Rajya Sabha, the house of Parliament, also passed the bill. Prehistoric Acheulian tools dating to Lower Paleolithic era have been discovered in places in the region. Kalinga has been mentioned in ancient texts like Mahabharata, Vayu Purana, the Sabar people of Odisha have also been mentioned in the Mahabharata. Baudhayana mentions Kalinga as not yet being influenced by Vedic traditions, Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty conquered Kalinga in the bloody Kalinga War in 261 BCE, which was the eighth year of his reign. According to his own edicts, in that war about 100,000 people were killed,150,000 were captured, the resulting bloodshed and suffering of the war is said to have deeply affected Ashoka. He turned into a pacifist and converted to Buddhism, by c.150 CE, emperor Kharavela, who was possibly a contemporary of Demetrius I of Bactria, conquered a major part of the Indian sub-continent. He also built the monastery atop the Udayagiri hill, subsequently, the region was ruled by monarchs, such as Samudragupta and Shashanka. It was also a part of Harshas empire, later, the kings of the Somavamsi dynasty began to unite the region

37.
Telangana
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Telangana is one of the 29 states in India, located in southern India. Formed in June 2014 as the newest state in India, from the part of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana has an area of 112,077 square kilometres. It is the twelfth largest state in India, and the twelfth most populated state in India and its major cities include Hyderabad, Warangal, Nizamabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and Ramagundam. Telangana is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north west, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the west and Andhra Pradesh to the east and south. Telangana had a history as the Telugu-speaking region of the state of Hyderabad. It joined the Union of India in 1948, in 1956, the Hyderabad state was dissolved as part of the linguistic reorganisation of states and Telangana was merged with former Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. Following a movement for separation, Telangan was awarded separate statehood on 2 June 2014, Hyderabad will continue to serve as the joint capital city for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for a period of not more than ten years. After Asaf Jahis ceded the Seemandhra region to the British, the rest of the Telugu region retained the name Telingana and the other parts were called Madras Presidencys Circars and Ceded. One of the earliest uses of a similar to Telangana can also be seen in a name of Malik Maqbul, who was called the Tilangani. He was the commander of the Warangal Fort, the Satavahana dynasty became the dominant power in this region. It originated from the lands between the Godavari and Krishna rivers and was based at Amaravathi and Dharanikota, after the decline of the Satavahanas, various dynasties, such as the Vakataka, Vishnukundina, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and Western Chalukya, ruled the area. The Telangana area experienced its golden age during the reign of the Kakatiya dynasty, rudrama Devi and Prataparudra II were prominent rulers from the Kakatiya dynasty. The dynasty weakened with the attack of Malik Kafur in 1309 and was dissolved after the defeat of Prataparudra by the forces of Muhammad bin Tughluq in 1323, the area came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, followed by the Bahmani Sultanate. Quli Qutb Mulk, a governor of Golkonda, revolted against the Bahmani Sultanate, on 21 September 1687, the Golkonda Sultanate came under the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after a year-long siege of the Golkonda fort. In 1712, Qamar-ud-din Khan was appointed by emperor Farrukhsiyar as the viceroy of Deccan with the title Nizam-ul-Mulk and he was later recalled to Delhi, with Mubariz Khan appointed as the viceroy. In 1724, Qamar-ud-din Khan defeated Mubariz Khan to reclaim the Deccan suba and he took the name Asif Jah, starting what came to be known as the Asif Jahi dynasty. He named the area Hyderabad Deccan, subsequent rulers retained the title Nizam ul-Mulk and were called Asif Jahi nizams or nizams of Hyderabad. The Medak and Warangal divisions of Telangana were part of their realm, when Asif Jah I died in 1748, there was political unrest due to contention for the throne among his sons, who were aided by opportunistic neighbouring states and colonial foreign forces

38.
Manipur
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Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, the state covers an area of 22,327 square kilometres and has a population of almost 3 million, including the Meitei, Kuki, Naga, and Pangal peoples, who speak Sino-Tibetan languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years and it has long connected the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, enabling migration of people, cultures and religions. During the British Rule, the Kingdom of Manipur was one of the princely states, between 1917 and 1939, the people of Manipur pressed for their rights against the British Rule. By the late 1930s, the state of Manipur negotiated with the British administration its preference to be part of India. These negotiations were cut short with the outbreak of World War II, on 21 September 1949, Maharaja Budhachandra signed a Treaty of Accession merging the kingdom into India. This merger is disputed by groups in Manipur as having been completed without consensus, the dispute and differing visions for the future has resulted in a 50-year insurgency in the state for independence from India, as well as in violence between ethnic groups in the state. Over 2010–2013, the militant insurgency was responsible for the violent death of about 1 civilian per 100,000 people, the world average annual death rate from intentional violence has been 7.9 per 100,000 people. The Meitei ethnic group, represents 53% of the population of Manipur state, the main language of the state is Meitei. By comparison, indigenous tribal peoples constitute 20% of the population, they are distinguished by dialects. Manipurs ethnic groups practice a variety of religions, according to 2011 census, Hinduism is the major religion in the state closely followed by Christianity. Other religions include Islam, Sanamahism, Buddhism etc, Manipur has primarily an agrarian economy, with significant hydroelectric power generation potential. It is connected to areas by daily flights through Imphal airport. Manipur is home to sports, the origin of Manipuri dance. Manipur is mentioned in texts as Kangleipak or Meeteileipak which covered only the three valleys districts, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Imphal. Sanamahi Laikan wrote that officials during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba in the eighteenth century adopted Manipurs new name, according to Sakok Lamlen, the area had different names in its history. During the Hayachak period, it was known as Mayai Koiren poirei namthak saronpung or Tilli Koktong Ahanba, during the Langbachak era, it became Tilli Koktong Leikoiren, and finally Muwapali in the Konnachak epoch. Neighbouring cultures each had differing names for Manipur and its people, the Shan or Pong called the area Cassay, the Burmese Kathe, and the Assamese Meklee

39.
Mizoram
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Mizoram is one of the states of Northeast India, with Aizawl as its capital city. The name is derived from Mi, Zo and Ram, in the northeast, it is the southern most landlocked state sharing borders with three of the Seven, now with the addition of Sikkim, Eight sister states, namely Tripura, Assam, Manipur. The state also shares a 722 kilometre border with the countries of Bangladesh. Like several other states of India, Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972. It became the 23rd state of India, a step above Union Territory, on 20 February 1987, Mizorams population was 1,091,014, according to a 2011 census. It is the 2nd least populous state in the country, Mizoram covers an area of approximately 21,087 square kilometres. About 91% of the state is forested and this is the highest concentration of tribal people among all states of India, and they are currently protected under Indian constitution as a Scheduled Tribe. Mizoram is one of three states of India with a Christian majority and its people belong to various denominations, mostly Presbyterian in its north and Baptists in south. Mizoram is a highly literate agrarian economy, but suffers from slash-and-burn jhum or shifting cultivation, in recent years, the jhum farming practices are steadily being replaced with a significant horticulture and bamboo products industry. The states gross domestic product for 2012 was estimated at ₹6,991 crore. About 20% of Mizorams population lives below poverty line, with 35% rural poverty, the state has about 871 kilometres of national highways, with NH-54 and NH-150 connecting it to Assam and Manipur respectively. It is also a transit point for trade with Myanmar. The term Mizoram is derived from three Mizo words-Mi, zo and ram, Mi in Mizo means People and Ram means land. There is dispute on the term zo, According to one view, zo means highland and Mizoram means land of the hill people. Lalthangliana says zo may also mean cold region and therefore, Mizo signifies people of the cold region, the origin of the Mizos, like those of many other tribes in the northeastern India, is shrouded in mystery. The people living in the Mizo Hills were generally referred to as the cucis or kukis by their ethnic groups which was also a term adopted by the British writers. The claim that The Kukis are the earliest known residents of the Mizo hills area, the majority of the tribes classified as Mizo today most likely migrated to their present territories from the neighbouring countries in several waves, starting around 1500 CE. Before the British Raj, the various Mizo clans lived in autonomous villages, the tribal chiefs enjoyed an eminent position in the gerontocratic Mizo society

40.
Sikkim
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Sikkim is a northeastern state of India. It borders China in its north and east, Bhutan in its east, Nepal in its west, Sikkim is also located close to the Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states, Sikkims capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 25% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park, the Kingdom of Sikkim was founded on the Silk Road by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by a Buddhist priest-king known as the Chogyal, once a vassal state of Qing China, it became a princely state of British India in 1890. After the Peoples Republic of China invaded Tibet, Sikkim continued its status with the dominion. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states, in 1975, the Indian military deposed the Sikkimese monarchy. A referendum in 1975 led to Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state, modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. Sikkim has 11 official languages, Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha, Tamang, Limbu, Newari, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Sunwar, English is taught in schools and used in government documents. The predominant religions are Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, Sikkims economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism, and as of 2014 the state had the third-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing. Sikkim accounts for the largest share of production in India. It is the most organic farming state in India and it is also among Indias most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic water bottles and styrofoam products. The most widely accepted theory of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two Limbu words, su, which means new, and khyim, which means palace or house. The name is believed to be a reference to the built by the states first ruler. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Drenjong, which means valley of rice, while the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, the Lepcha people, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, called it Nye-mae-el, meaning paradise. In History, Sikkim is known as Indrakil, the garden of the war god Indra, little is known about Sikkims ancient history, beyond the fact that its original inhabitants were the Lepcha. The earliest historical mention of Sikkim is a record of the passage of the Buddhist saint Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism, and foretold the era of monarchy that would arrive in Sikkim centuries later. According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse

41.
Chandigarh
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Chandigarh is a city and a union territory of India that serves as the capital of the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. As a union territory, the city is governed directly by the Union Government and is not part of either state, Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the north, west and south, and to the state of Haryana to the east. Chandigarh is considered to be a part of the Chandigarh capital region or Greater Chandigarh, which includes Chandigarh, and it is located 260 km north of New Delhi,229 km southeast of Amritsar and just 116 km southwest of Shimla. Chandigarh was one of the planned cities in the post-independence India and is internationally known for its architecture. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city, were designed by the Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. In 2015, an article published by BBC named Chandigarh as one of the cities of the world in terms of architecture, cultural growth. Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex was in July 2016 declared by UNESCO as World Heritage at the 40th session of World Heritage Conference held in Istanbul, UNESCO inscription was under “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier an outstanding contribution to the Modern Movement”. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories by per capita income followed by Haryana, the city was reported to be the cleanest in India in 2010, based on a national government study. The union territory also heads the list of Indian states and territories according to Human Development Index, in 2015, a survey by LG Electronics, ranked Chandigarh as the happiest city in India over the happiness index. The metropolitan of Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula collectively forms a Tri-city, with a population of over 2 million. The name Chandigarh is a portmanteau of Chandi and Garh, Chandi refers to Hindu Goddess Chandi, the warrior Avatar of Goddess Parvati, and Garh means home. The name is derived from Chandi Mandir, an ancient temple devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi, the logo of The City Beautiful derives from the City Beautiful movement that was a popular philosophy in North American urban planning during the 1890s and 1900s. Architect Albert Mayer, the planner of Chandigarh, lamented the American rejection of City Beautiful concepts. The phrase was used on as a logo in official publications in the 1970s, the city has a pre-historic past. Due to the presence of lake, the area has fossil remains with imprints of a variety of aquatic plants and animals, and amphibian life. As it was a part of the Punjab region, it had many rivers nearby where the ancient, so, about 8000 years ago, the area was also known to be a home to the Harappans. Chandigarh was the city of Indias first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru. After the partition of India in 1947, the former British province of Punjab was split between East Punjab in India and West Punjab in Pakistan, the Indian Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition

42.
Youth detention center
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Juveniles go through a separate court system, the juvenile court, which sentences or commits juveniles to a certain program or facility. Once processed in the court system there are many different pathways for juveniles. If a juvenile is sent by the courts to a detention center there are two types of facilities, secure detention and secure confinement. Secure detention means that juveniles are held for usually short periods of time in facilities in order to await current trial hearings, by holding juveniles in secure detention, it ensures appearance in court while also keeping the community safe and risk-free of the juvenile. This type of facility is called a juvenile hall, which is a holding center for juvenile delinquents. Juvenile detention is not intended to be punitive, rather, juveniles held in secure custody usually receive care consistent with the doctrine of parens patriae, i. e. the state as parent. Generally speaking, secure detention is reserved for juveniles considered to be a threat to safety or the court process, though in many cases. The reason for the variety in placement options of juveniles is that there does not currently exist a uniform definition of residential treatment programs. As a result, this creates a lack of uniformity across states, many services are supposed to be provided to the youth at both detention centers and confinement facilities. Services vary from facility to facility, but in general the programs, at the core, juvenile facilities function as rehabilitative institutions for youth. Education is seen by many as the primary rehabilitative service that must be provided to detained youth, despite state and federal requirements, there are many problems with the educational systems in juvenile detention centers. Some facilities do not have designated classrooms, libraries, or even books, and the teachers are poorly trained. There is a long-standing connection found in research between youth who commit crimes and mental health concerns, there has been found to be a surprisingly high population of juveniles who present serious mental health illness within juvenile facilities. Being that juvenile detention facilities operate on the foundation of rehabilitating the youth and it is the expectation that juvenile detention centers and juvenile institutions provide mental health services to their residents. The incarcerated youth population requires careful and structured intervention, which must be provided by the facilities, many different mental health treatment strategies exist for juveniles. It is the responsibility of management to decide what type of intervention strategy works best for each youth in his or her mental health treatment plan. Mental health services that can be provided to the include, individual counseling, group counseling, crisis counseling, family intervention, medication management. Education is seen by many as the cornerstone of youth rehabilitation, many landmark court cases, such as the 1981 case of Green v. Johnson, have given way to juveniles receiving their educational rights while incarcerated

43.
Minor (law)
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In law, a minor is a person under a certain age—usually the age of majority—which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is generally 18, minor may also be used in contexts unconnected to the overall age of majority. For example, the age in the United States is usually 21. These age limits are different from the age of majority. The concept of minor is not sharply defined in most jurisdictions, in many countries, including Australia, India, Philippines, Brazil, Croatia, and Colombia, a minor is defined as a person under the age of 18. In Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, a minor is a person under 20 years of age, for all provincial laws, the provincial and territorial governments have the power to set the age of majority in their respective province or territory, and the age varies across Canada. In Saskatchewan, the legal gaming age and the drinking age are both 19. For Federal Law, the age of majority is 18, in Italy, law nr.39 of March 8,1975, states that a minor is a person under the age of 18. Citizens under the age of 18 may not vote, be elected, crimes committed in Italy by minors are tried in a juvenile court. In all 31 states, a minor is referred to as someone under the age of 18, minors aged 16 or 17 who are charged with crimes could sometimes be treated as an adult. A minor is restricted from doing juristic acts—for example, sign contracts, when a minor wishes to do a juristic act, he has to obtain the consent from his legal representative, usually the parents and otherwise the act is voidable. A minor can make a will at the age of fifteen, in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland a minor is a person under the age of 18, in Scotland, under the age of 16. The age of responsibility in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland is 10, and 12 in Scotland, formerly 8. In England and Wales, cases of breaking the law are often dealt with by the Youth Offending Team. If they are incarcerated, they are sent to a Young Offender Institution, driving certain large vehicles, acting as personal license holder for licensed premises, and adopting a child are only permitted after the age of 21. The minimum age to drive a HGV1 vehicle was reduced to 18, however, certain vehicles, e. g. steamrollers, require that someone be 21 years of age to obtain an operating license. In the United States as of 1995, minor is generally defined as a person under the age of 18. Although in the context of alcohol or gambling laws, people under the age of 21 may also sometimes be referred to as minors, however, not all minors are considered juveniles in terms of criminal responsibility

44.
Juvenile delinquency
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Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is participation in illegal behavior by minors. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as detention centers. A juvenile delinquent in the United States is a person who is typically below 18 years of age, depending on the type and severity of the offense committed, it is possible for people under 18 to be charged and treated as adults. Juvenile crimes can range from status offenses, to property crimes, however, juvenile offending can be considered normative adolescent behavior. This is because most teens tend to offend by committing non-violent crimes, only once or a few times, repeated and/or violent offending is likely to lead to later and more violent offenses. When this happens, the offender often displayed antisocial behavior even before reaching adolescence, according to the developmental research of Moffitt, there are two different types of offenders that emerge in adolescence. Juvenile delinquency occurrences by males are largely disproportionate to the rate of occurrences by females and this great gap between the crimes reinforce the connotations of traditional masculinity to be the center of violence, aggression, and competition. This is largely based on the notion that as males, it is their duty to take what they feel they deserve through these means to define themselves and play the role of provider and independent figure. Because aggression is not a characteristic, it has caused more commotion when females perform crimes that are often attributed to males. The acts of delinquency begin with the expectations of their perceived roles through the direction of adults of both genders. Sandra Lee Bartky expresses these claims thoroughly in her work Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power by examining close observation of diction, action, and decorum. Boys learn to take as much space as possible when sitting, dress appropriately to stand out, thus, delinquent behavior is expressed as an outlet especially to those of lower socioeconomic backgrounds that cannot gain precedence through conventional means. Gender role for females is to become more unnoticeable, a follower that does not need to stand out, because of their condition to be more docile and dependent, the instinctive need to gain precedence is not as highly valued. Even respect comes in the form of different terms, as it is through how appropriately she conducts herself that seems innocent and this is also influenced by fellow peers such as mothers and other female figures apart from the authoritative male figure. In this instance, there is no need to urge to commit delinquency as the female is expected to rely on the male for his role as provider. It is through the act of needing to become dependent that enforces the feminine characteristics to seem as an alternative to delinquency, in fact, it has been largely stated that while masculinity induces such violent behavior, femininity is seen as the antithesis to delinquency. The answers were predominantly that males were to provide through aggressive terms, while females should be the more docile, the bipolarity assumption suggests that masculinity and femininity are opposites, and the assumption of unidimensionality implies that gender differences form a single scale. Interestingly, the impact of feminism has because the formation of a new trend as female delinquency has gone up

45.
Himachal Pradesh
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Himachal Pradesh is a state of India located in Northern India. It is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab and Chandigarh on the west, Haryana on the south-west, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east. The name was coined from Sanskrit him snow and achal mountain, by Acharya Diwakar Datt Sharma, Himachal Pradesh is famous for its natural beauty, hill stations, and temples. Himachal Pradesh has been ranked fifteenth in the list of the highest per capita incomes of Indian states, many perennial rivers flow in the state, and numerous hydroelectric projects set up. Himachal produces surplus hydroelectricity and sells it to states such as Delhi, Punjab. Hydroelectric power projects, tourism, and agriculture form important parts of the states economy, the state has several valleys, and more than 90% of the population living in rural areas. Practically all houses have a toilet and 100% hygiene has been achieved in the state, the villages have good connectivity with roads, public health centres, and now with high-speed broadband. Shimla district has maximum urban population of 25%, according to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh was ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country, after Kerala. The history of the area that now constitutes Himachal Pradesh dates to the Indus valley civilisation that flourished between 2250 and 1750 BCE, tribes such as the Koili, Hali, Dagi, Dhaugri, Dasa, Khasa, Kinnar, and Kirat inhabited the region from the prehistoric era. During the Vedic period, several small republics known as Janapada existed which were conquered by the Gupta Empire. After a brief period of supremacy by King Harshavardhana, the region was divided into several local powers headed by chieftains and these kingdoms enjoyed a large degree of independence and were invaded by Delhi Sultanate a number of times. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century, timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills of the state and captured a number of forts and fought many battles. Several hill states acknowledged Mughal suzerainty and paid tribute to the Mughals. The Gurkha people, a tribe, came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their power and began to expand their territory. Gradually, the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla, under the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand Katoch, the ruler of Kangra, however, the Gurkha could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After the defeat, the Gurkha began to expand towards the south of the state, however, Raja Ram Singh, Raja of Siba State, captured the fort of Siba from the remnants of Lahore Darbar in Samvat 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War

46.
Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya

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Convict
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A convict is a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court or a person serving a sentence in prison. Convicts are often known as prisoners or inmates or by the slang term con, while a common label for former convicts. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences tend not to be described as convicts, the legal label of ex-convict usually has lifelong implications, such as social stigma and/or reduced opportunities for employment. The particular use of the convict in the English-speaking world was to describe the huge numbers of criminals. Their crimes would today be regarded as petty misdemeanours, or are no longer in the criminal code, most of the punishments at this time were severe, with the death penalty applied for fairly minor crimes. However, this sentence was often commuted to a lesser one. Thus, in the British context, the convict has come to refer in particular to those criminals transported overseas. Initially many British convicts were sent to the American colonies, such as the Maryland, Virginia, the transportation of convicts from the United Kingdom began around 1615 and became increasingly common in the following years. Initially most people were transported to North America or the West Indies, from 1718 onwards transportation was entirely to North America. The arrangements ceased when the American Revolutionary War meant it was no longer possible for the United Kingdom to send convicts to North America, the British Government then looked to the newly discovered east coast of Australia to use as a penal colony. Convicts were transported to Australia in 1787, arriving in Botany Bay, then Sydney Cove, from the very start of European settlement convicts were used as indentured labourers in five out of the six colonies. Many were used on works, but a significant number were assigned to private individuals as domestic servants, rural workers. Transportation was progressively abolished from 1853, eventually ceasing altogether in 1868, in Australia, convicts have come to be key figures of cultural mythology and historiography. British convicts were sent to Canada, West Africa. France also sent convicts to French Guiana and New Caledonia, russian criminals who were shipped to Siberia can arguably be regarded as convicts. Convicted felon Convict lease Convict assignment Convicts in Australia Older prisoners Penal transportation Convict life - State Library of NSW Convict Transportation Registers database

An armoured vehicle of the Mumbai Police Force. After the recent attack on Mumbai all metropolitan police which are under the command of the Central Government have paramilitary type forces affiliated with them